The Spanish right staged a rally in Madrid to denounce potential pardons for jailed Catalan separatists.
Indications are growing that the Spanish government will offer clemency to the 12 politicians convicted over Catalonia's failed independence bid in 2017.
The proposed gesture has divided Spain and revived the controversy over Catalan separatism.
In Spain’s capital city, tens of thousands of people on Sunday joined the demonstration attended by leaders of the conservative People's Party and far-right Vox movement.
Estimates of the turnout ranged from 25,000 to 126,000, with many protesters waving red and yellow Spanish flags.
It turns up the pressure on Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, who has yet to sign off any pardons.
“I understand that there are citizens who are reluctant about the possibility of granting pardons to the Catalan prisoners,” said Mr Sanchez during a visit to Argentina last week.
“But I ask for your trust … Spanish society has to move from a bad past to a better future and that also implies magnanimity.”
Sanchez under fire
Mr Sanchez's critics on the right accuse him of trading the pardons for votes from Catalan nationalists in the Spanish parliament.
Votes from Catalan party ERC could be key to passing a national budget next year that would determine how Spain spends its post-pandemic recovery fund.
"We are not going to permit Sanchez’s attack on the judiciary, on the sovereignty, national unity and equality of the Spanish people in exchange for a handful of votes,” People's Party leader Pablo Casado said.
"Sanchez is planning pardons to legitimise an ongoing crime ... a historic error that won't solve anything, only to keep his government from going under."
Mr Sanchez faces additional criticism from his own Socialist camp, where the pardons are seen as a political gamble.
About 63 per cent of Spaniards oppose granting the pardons while 25 per cent are in favour, a poll published on Sunday showed.
Spain’s Supreme Court opposed the pardons in a recent non-binding opinion in which it said the sentences for sedition and other crimes were appropriate.
The convicted politicians had not shown “the slightest evidence or faintest hint of contrition", it said.
The separatists held an unauthorised referendum in 2017 and issued a declaration of independence that was rejected by Madrid.
In 2019, the court sentenced nine separatist leaders to between nine and 13 years in jail on sedition charges.
Three others were convicted of disobedience but not jailed.
One of the prisoners, former Catalan vice president Oriol Junqueras, had a letter published in a Catalan newspaper last week in which he recognised that the breakaway was "not considered fully legitimate" by many people.
The letter was seen as an attempt to break with Catalan hardliners and pave the way for a potential pardon.
In the letter, Mr Junqueras called for a future referendum approved by the Spanish government rather than another wildcat vote like in 2017.
He gave the example of the Scottish independence referendum in 2014, which was authorised by the UK government.
Other separatists, such as former Catalan leader Carles Puigdemont, who fled Spain after the 2017 crisis, have not given up on a unilateral schism.
Spain’s government remains firm in its position not to concede a referendum.
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COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Qyubic
Started: October 2023
Founder: Namrata Raina
Based: Dubai
Sector: E-commerce
Current number of staff: 10
Investment stage: Pre-seed
Initial investment: Undisclosed
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Greenheart Organic Farms
This Dubai company was one of the country’s first organic farms, set up in 2012, and it now delivers a wide array of fruits and vegetables grown regionally or in the UAE, as well as other grocery items, to both Dubai and Abu Dhabi doorsteps.
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Modibodi
Founded in Australia, Modibodi is now in the UAE with waste-free, reusable underwear that eliminates the litter created by a woman’s monthly cycle, which adds up to approximately 136kgs of sanitary waste over a lifetime.
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The Good Karma Co
From brushes made of plant fibres to eco-friendly storage solutions, this company has planet-friendly alternatives to almost everything we need, including tin foil and toothbrushes.
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One Dubai boutique, Re:told, is taking second-hand garments and selling them on at a fraction of the price, helping to cut back on the hundreds of thousands of tonnes of clothes thrown into landfills each year.
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Lush
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Eggs & Soldiers
This bricks-and-mortar shop and e-store, founded by a Dubai mum-of-four, is the place to go for all manner of family products – from reusable cloth diapers to organic skincare and sustainable toys.
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Founders: Michele Ferrario, Nino Ulsamer and Freddy Lim
Started: established in 2016 and launched in July 2017
Based: Singapore, with offices in the UAE, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Thailand
Sector: FinTech, wealth management
Initial investment: $500,000 in seed round 1 in 2016; $2.2m in seed round 2 in 2017; $5m in series A round in 2018; $12m in series B round in 2019; $16m in series C round in 2020 and $25m in series D round in 2021
Current staff: more than 160 employees
Stage: series D
Investors: EightRoads Ventures, Square Peg Capital, Sequoia Capital India
MOUNTAINHEAD REVIEW
Starring: Ramy Youssef, Steve Carell, Jason Schwartzman
Director: Jesse Armstrong
Rating: 3.5/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Specs
Engine: Duel electric motors
Power: 659hp
Torque: 1075Nm
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Price: On request
The specs
Engine: 6.2-litre supercharged V8
Power: 712hp at 6,100rpm
Torque: 881Nm at 4,800rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 19.6 l/100km
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